STEELWORKERS will be reballoted on strike action if a legal challenge by bosses succeeds in overturning their vote to walk out in defence of their jobs this month.

Tata Steel is pressing ahead with its plans to shut the blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works with the loss of 2,800 jobs.

The firm has dismissed a Labour pledge, if elected on Thursday, to support the industry with investment of £2.8 billion as “irrelevant” and has started legal action challenging union Unite’s strike ballot.

But Unite said on Saturday: “If [Tata] are successful, Unite will reballot. We cannot allow these steel jobs to go.”

Unite made clear its determination at the weekend as steelworkers in Scunthorpe staged a fundraising concert in preparation for the struggle to come and to raise public awareness of Tata’s intransigence.

The union said in a statement: “Unite will continue to do everything in its power to save jobs and fight to stop the destruction of our critical infrastructure.

“We again call on the company to wait until we have a change of government, not make any irreversible decisions and enter into meaningful negotiations.

“That is the only demand Unite is making at this point. Unite can then meet with government, other unions and Tata to negotiate investment in jobs rather than abandoning the steelworkers in Wales.”

In Scunthorpe, north Lincolnshire, where hundreds of steel jobs are also under threat, Unite staged a Steel Town Punk concert at the Cafe Indie on Saturday, where performers included labour and trade union movement stalwart singer-songwriter Joe Solo.